Remarks by Secretary General Li Baodong at the Pr…
原创 李保东 博鳌亚洲论坛 收录于话题#自由贸易协定：亚洲的选择3个
As we are bidding farewell to the year of the rat and ushering in the year of the Ox, I warmly welcome you to this Boao Forum for Asia Chinese New Year Special Event for Members and Partners—the launch and panel discussion of the report "Free Trade Agreements: Asia's Choice".
At the outset, allow me on behalf of the Boao Forum for Asia to express my appreciation to the host country government, embassies of BFA’s initial countries, and relevant international organizations for their unswerving support throughout the year. I’d also like to express my heartfelt thanks to BFA members and partners for walking by our side every step of the way, to friends in academia and media for heeding the voice of the Boao Forum, and to all guests joining us online today for your support over the past year. New Year greetings to you all!
2020 was a truly extraordinary year. The once-in-a-century pandemic took 1.9 million lives around the world; global economy, trade and investment experienced the worst recession in nearly a century; and the profound changes in global landscape unseen in a century were accelerated. Yet global cooperation in pandemic control, the roll-out of vaccines, gradual economic recovery in different regions and enhanced multilateral cooperation give us hope for 2021.
Asia, a staunch defender of multilateralism, has been playing a crucial role. In 2020, Asian economies such as China and Vietnam which led the economic recovery made important contribution to stabilizing global supply chains, trade and investment. In November, 15 Asia-Pacific countries signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, setting in motion the process of creating a free trade zone with the largest population, the highest trade volume and the biggest development potential. On December 30th, the China-EU Comprehensive Agreement on Investment negotiation was concluded on schedule, sending a strong signal in promoting institutional openness and improving multilateral trade rules.
In 2020, the BFA Academy teamed up with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, the East Asian Institute of the National University of Singapore, and Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Indonesia to produce the report "Free Trade Agreements: Asia's Choice" at the end of the year. Through comparing the rules of different trade agreements applicable to Asian economies, analyzing their economic, political and social impacts and making policy recommendations, the report aims to contribute to better implementation of free trade agreements as well as improved regional economic integration in Asia.
Looking ahead, in the post-pandemic era, it will be even more crucial for Asian countries to share weal and woe and promote free trade agreements as well as other regional cooperative arrangements with an open attitude so as to create new drivers for regional growth. We hope to see more utilization of free trade agreements and increasing benefits for enterprises and households in this region. We hope to see more reforms driven by opening-up in Asian economies, where domestic policies can be aligned with requirements of free trade agreements. We hope to see increasing participation in free trade talks and capacity building by underdeveloped countries. We hope to see more effort by major economies in the region to integrate free trade connections and agreements so as to facilitate regional free trade agreements with a much broader scope and to jointly draw up the new blueprint for regional economic integration. We also hope that through building high-level free trade zones that are rooted in the realities of countries yet oriented towards the future, Asia could offer its solution to reshaping the multilateral trading system.
On that note, please allow me on behalf of our partners to formally launch the report, “Free Trade Agreements: Asia's Choice”.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
History has shown that closed door policies inevitably lead to backwardness. Win-win cooperation rather than confrontation is the trend of our time, as isolation and turning inward won’t solve the problem of economic development during and beyond the pandemic. Economic globalization will continue to evolve and move forward. The Pursuit of peace and development and promotion of opening up and cooperation in line with the fundamental interests of countries and the will of the people will be a mega-trend. Asian economies have already taken actions to safeguard multilateralism and globalization in an effort to promote progress and prosperity around the world.
Snow melts in plum blossoms and willows turn green in the spring breeze. The pandemic will end, and the spring will come. I hope today’s conference will help us get a better understanding of the impact of free trade agreements on Asia and on the world which would facilitate the transformation of global trade order and make it more conducive to economic globalization and Asian regional integration. I wish the panel discussion a success!
Thank you!
亚洲浪潮，博鳌视野
立足亚洲 面向世界
传递论坛最新动态 促进亚洲深度合作
全球重要对话的传达者 亚洲共同发展的瞭望者
原标题：《Remarks by Secretary General Li Baodong at the Press Conference》